The internal fixation of a fractured long bone using an elongated nail, pin, or wire is frequently desirable. However, it is difficult to drive the nail into both halves of the fracture so that the fractured portions are properly aligned in close apposition.
A wide variety of surgical instrumentation has been developed to facilitate the internal fixation of fractures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,467 discloses a surgical hammer for driving K-wires. The tool disclosed in this patent can only accommodate a limited number of sizes of wires and the collet must be changed for each wire size. Another disadvantage of the tool is that the slap hammer cannot be removed from the tool. Manipulating the tool with the extra weight of the slap hammer is cumbersome. Further, unwanted movement of the slap hammer could interfere with proper implantation of the wire.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved device for the impaction and extraction of an internal fracture fixation implant.